Our time on the Ohio River Scenic Byway is a journey that starts at river's end and flows almost a thousand miles upstream to its beginning, passing through an ever-changing landscape of people, history, scenery, and events.

Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.

- Marcus Aurelius

Tommy Lee Jones Sat Right There

The Ohio River, which is the Mississippi's largest tributary by volume, was the waterborne route followed by many settlers heading west in the 18th and 19th centuries. Lewis and Clark followed it to the Mississippi and then headed up the Missouri River in keelboats on their famous expedition. During the Civil War, the Ohio served as a dividing line and water barrier between the North and South. In later times, though, it became a vast industrial corridor, somewhat similar to the Ruhr Valley in Germany.

With these thoughts sifting through my consciousness, we begin our expedition at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers on a narrow spit of land occupied by Cairo, IL. Florian Neuhauser is on the Buell Ulysses, and I am riding the Harley-Davidson Fat Bob. Cairo was an affluent river town in the 1800s and, during the Civil War, it served as a strategically important supply base and training station for Union soldiers. The decline in river traffic afterward exacted a heavy toll on the town's economy, from which it may never have fully recovered. One can only hope that someday there will be a concerted effort to restore and capitalize on the town's historical and architectural legacy to make it a more attractive tourist destination.

Southern Illinois may seem like an unusual place to find Superman, but the river village of Metropolis pays tribute to "The Man of Steel" in a big way. Although Lois Lane is nowhere to be found, a larger than life statue of Superman dominates the town square. And directly across the street is the Super Museum, stuffed to the rafters with over 20,000 items relating to the 61-year Superman saga that's been chronicled in comic books, on television, and in the movies. Florian asks me to take his picture behind a muscular life-sized Superman body cutout. I do so and declare, "I'm certain your mom will be proud."

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For the complete touring article, including facts & information, map(s), and GPS files, please purchase the November/December 2009 back issue.